How can a holiday stir up thoughts of cheer, warmth, and celebration in some while reminding others of a painful and dark past?

The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving - Larry Spotted

PRLog - May 6, 2014 - Marble, NC, May 05, 2014 -- Larry Spotted Crow Mann’s groundbreaking novel, The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving, challenges the notion of a holiday deeply ingrained in American tradition and folklore both from a historical standpoint as well as cultural. The story is told through the experiences a Native American Nipmuc man who fights to change the future, while coming to terms with his own troubled past and the acceptance of his family. For Neempau, the ultimate remedy is to challenge and end one of America’s favorite holidays: Thanksgiving.

His heart-wrenching, daring, and sometimes humorous journey not only exposes the innermost core of Native American struggles, but also the complexities of the notion of race, tradition, and identity. This brilliant story transcends cultural differences and inspires new thinking while taking readers beyond the boundaries of the past.

It’s these very complicated issues that contemporary Native families struggle with for a holiday that most take for granted as a time for feasting and football. While this is a novel that highlights the contradiction of the history and tradition of two cultures, in no way does it exclude either from the well-told tale that Larry spins about one family’s journey to come to terms with Thanksgiving. Neither preachy nor dry, The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving is an engaging read—sometimes deadly serious, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always relevant.

“When Larry Spotted Crow Mann came to me with his manuscript for The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving, I was delighted to be a part of this project,” says publisher Catherine Rayburn-Trobaugh. “After 20 years in education, I realized the need for a well written, entertaining novel that, at the same time, challenges conventional ideas about tradition and history. Although written for grades nine and up, The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving speaks to audiences of all ages.”

Larry Spotted Crow Mann is an internationally acclaimed writer/poet, performer, Nipmuc cultural educator, story teller, and traditional leader of the historical Nipmuc Tribe. He also serves as the Drum Keeper of the Tribe which is a sacred trust. He travels throughout the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe to schools, colleges, powwows, and other organizations sharing the music, culture and history of Nipmuc people. Mann is a winner of Memescapes Journal of Fine Arts contest, and he was nominated for a Pushcart award in 2013. In addition, he has appeared in several documentaries about Native American culture and life. For more information about The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving, go to http://www.wordbranch.com/the-mourning-road-to-thanksgivi....

The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving is published by Word Branch Publishing. Word Branch is an independent publishing company located in the heart of Appalachia. WBP represents talented new and emerging authors who need a venue to make their voices heard. Word Branch offers unique titles in both paperback and e-books in a variety of genres including science fiction, fantasy, young adult, and spiritual. See more titles at http://wordbranch.com.